I use the Azure CLI for much of what I do in Azure now – true, the same things can usually be achieved through the portal or by using PowerShell, but I just prefer the Linux / Bash nature of the CLI.

One of the things that makes the CLI so nice to use is the powerful query language that it has available – this language is called JMESPath. JMESPath isn’t specific to the Azure CLI though – it’s a query language for JSON (http://jmespath.org/) so it can be used whenever you need to manipulate or query JSON data. Read the rest of this entry »

A few months back, I created a lab workshop focused around building virtual data centres in Azure (see here for more details). Given how successful this workshop has been when running it with partners, I’ve now recorded a video with my colleague Dan Baker that takes viewers through the whole process of building the VDC environment. The video is less than an hour long and will walk you through the entire lab build, explaining each step along the way.